Kavita (name changed) was new to all of this. She had worked in people’s homes, and putting money into the market was a careful, hopeful step for someone with little to spare.
What pulled her in was not greed. It was sheer persistence.
The agents of a listed, registered broker, the kind that looks completely legitimate.
They called her as many as 25 times a day for months, kept messaging even after she set her phone to Do Not Disturb, until she finally gave in.
Within a day or two of starting, about ₹26,000 of her money was gone, not to the market, but to brokerage, on a total loss of around ₹28,000.
Read that again. The commission was very nearly the entire loss.
The trading was not the business they were running on her. The brokerage was.
How Aggressive Sales Tactics Lead to Massive Trading Fees?
Kavita had done the sensible thing and checked: the broker was listed, it seemed reputable, so she trusted it.
But the people who onboarded her, a branch’s agents, behaved nothing like the brand. They did not teach or train her, even when she asked plainly for proper training first.
They were rude, they did not listen, it was just do this, buy that, take this quantity. The account was opened through their referral, which is the detail that explains everything that followed.
They had her trade crude oil. The next day she opened the account to find roughly ₹24,000 to ₹26,000 of brokerage deducted.
When she questioned it, they told her she had “changed 180 lots,” something a careful near-beginner simply does not do and which she says she never did.
They had also told her that if she was ever in a no-network area, she could just let them place the trades from their terminal.
Put those together and a clear possibility emerges: trades run on her account from their end, that she never instructed, each one spinning the brokerage meter.
Warning Signs of a Brokerage Churning Scam
You can see the whole scheme by following the commission.
1. The brokerage was the point, and that is churning
When commission eats almost the entire loss, the trades were never about her gains. As a simple test, a ₹28,000 loss cannot honestly carry ₹26,000 of brokerage unless the account was being traded to manufacture commission.
The agents opened her account on their referral code, which earns them a cut of every rupee of brokerage, and that is the motive in plain sight.
A broker and its agents are forbidden from running up trades to generate commission, and this is exactly that.
2. Trades she never placed are unauthorized trades
The “180 lots” she says she never changed, very possibly placed from their terminal, are not her decisions. A broker must act on your instructions.
Many victims caught in this trap ask themselves: Is account handling legal? The short answer under SEBI regulations is an absolute no.
Trades put through your account that you did not authorize are the broker’s liability, not your loss to absorb, regardless of how they were entered.
3. Calling 25 times a day and ignoring DND is aggressive mis-selling
Hounding a first-time, vulnerable person into trading, while refusing to give the training she asked for, is the opposite of dealing fairly.
They did not want an informed client. They wanted an open account.
4. A listed name is not a shield
It is tempting to think a reputable, listed broker could not be behind this. But a broker is responsible for what its branch agents and authorised persons do in your account.
The brand on the door does not excuse the churning done under it.
And her proof sits in records she can get hold of. The contract notes and ledger, the broker’s own documents, show the brokerage against her capital, and ₹26,000 of a ₹28,000 loss is damning in their own numbers.
The account history shows the 180-lot trades against what she actually placed. The link they shared to open the account ties it to their referral.
Her screenshots and the call and message logs of the relentless contact round it out.
What Investors Can Learn From This Case?
When a broker’s own agents have to call you 25 times a day to get you to trade, and the result is that the brokerage swallows almost your entire loss, you were never a client they hoped to grow.
You were an account they intended to churn. If you find yourself in this situation, knowing how to file a complaint against excessive brokerage charges is your most powerful tool.
A listed, respectable brand name does not change what its branch did inside Kavita’s account, and “you changed 180 lots” is not an acceptable excuse when a beginner never placed those trades.
The broker’s own ledger shows the commission eating the loss, and trades she never made are trades the broker has to answer for.
Being new to the market is not the same thing as being fair game, and the persistence that pulled her in is, conveniently, written all over her call log.
How to File a Complaint to Recover Money Lost in a Brokerage Churning Scam?
Step 1: Secure Your Digital Trail
Take screenshots of your call logs showing the relentless contact (like the 25 calls a day) and back up any WhatsApp or SMS messages from the agents pushing you to trade.
Step 2: File a Complaint Directly with the Broker
Submit a formal written complaint to the broker’s compliance officer. State clearly that their agents executed unauthorized trades (like the 180 lots) from their terminal and demand a refund of the ₹26,000 churned brokerage.
Step 3: File a complaint in SCORES
If the broker rejects your claim, escalate the matter to SEBI’s SCORES portal. Upload your ledger and call logs to prove the broker breached regulations by churning your account to manufacture commissions.
Step 4: Raise a Complaint in SMART ODR
If SCORES doesn’t resolve it, move the dispute to the SMART ODR platform. This brings your documented trade history and proof of unauthorized terminal access before an independent arbitrator.
Step 5: Go for Stock Market Arbitration
During your virtual arbitration hearings, stick to the absolute facts. Emphasize that a broker’s primary duty is to act on your instructions, and they are legally forbidden from churning trades just to generate brokerage.
Drained by a Brokerage Churning Scam? Get Expert Help with Your Recovery Case
Many victims feel completely helpless because they technically “agreed” to open the account or gave in to the pressure after being hounded by phone calls.
You might believe that because the broker is a well-known, listed company, you have no legal legs to stand on—but that is a myth.
No brand name or listed status gives a broker’s branch agents the right to aggressively mis-sell, execute unauthorized terminal trades, or hollow out your savings to pocket referral commissions.
Our team helps victims break down the chaos. We will audit your ledger, isolate the exact instances of churning, match the unauthorized lot sizes with your losses, and build a ironclad file for your recovery case.
If an aggressive broker hounded you into trading and wiped out your capital through hidden fees, reach out to us today to evaluate your legal recovery options.
Conclusion
When a listed broker’s agents call you 25 times a day just to push you into trades that generate ₹26,000 in fees on a ₹28,000 loss, you are not experiencing a regular market loss, you are the victim of a severe regulatory violation.
No broker or agent is allowed to run your account into the ground just to spin their own commission meter. A respectable brand name on the door does not make predatory churning legal.
Do not let a bad experience silence you. Gather your call logs, download your contract notes, and file formal complaints to fight for your recovery.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. The broker is listed and reputable. Can its agents still be at fault?
Yes. A broker is responsible for what its branch agents and authorised persons do in your account. A respected name does not excuse churning or unauthorized trades carried out under it.
2. There are trades in my account I never placed. Whose liability is that?
A broker must act on your instructions. Trades you did not authorize, including those placed from the broker’s terminal, are the broker’s responsibility, not a loss you have to accept.
3. The brokerage is almost as large as my loss. Is that churning?
When commission makes up nearly all of what you lost, the trading was generating brokerage rather than serving you. Compared against your capital in the contract notes, that is the classic churning pattern.
